Heritage Notes - 21 May 2010

Our postcard project is close to launch date now. At our last committee meeting, we identified ten scenes which will form the ‘Cappoquin Collection’, a series of local images which will go on sale early in June. Among the collection will be prints of two Arthur Maderson paintings, two black-and-white pictures from yesteryear, a classic scene at the Tailors from David Shaw Smith and five modern scenes from the cameras of Mary McGrath and Helen McGrath. These will be limited to a run of just 100 each and will, we hope, become as much collectors’ items as they will be postcards.

A welcome back to our intrepid explorers who travelled the length of the tidal Blackwater (and back, for some) last week on Tony Gallagher’s boat. For most, it was a first ever journey on the great river, and the talk still goes on of the beauties of Ballinatray, brooding Strancally and the old Knights Templar haunts along the way. Plans are well under way to include a special feature on the Blackwater and its castles in the heritage and floral exhibition at the carnival, and no doubt visitors will get a chance to hear some of our seafaring tales into the bargain. Well done to all who made the trip, and to the reporter from Lonely Planet who might just be in a position to give the river a major plug in next year’s guidebook as a result of this unforgettable journey.